The Life System

Paul E. Olsen

Lecture and Lab - TuesdayRecitation - Thursday

Beginning: Spring, 1997.

Description

The "Life System" component of the "Earth's Environmental Systems" series provides an integrated view of the biological
component of the Earth system. It emphasizes the role of life in
biogeochemical cycles, the role of the physical Earth in
biodiversity and evolution; and the importance of history to
understanding the context of Earth systems. It also stresses the
biotic systems, in contrast to the physical systems, as
maintaining the non-equilibrium state of the Earth's surface.

The course is divided into three parallel "Streams". Stream I is
comprised of weekly topic divided into a Tuesday lecture, and a
Thursday "recitation", all focusing on the operation of the
system. The latter will be not only discussion, but also computer
oriented. Students will work with models and on-line data
streams. They will have their own take home computers which
will allow them to continue afterwards (this is true of all three
of the Department of Geological Sciences core courses). Stream 2,
is a lab focusing on the system elements. This is intended to be a
very substantial part of the course in which students gain
experience with working with parts of the Biosphere. Again,
computer-related experiments and analysis will be very
important, complimenting the more traditional descriptive
aspects of the lab. This is also where students will gain
experience with methods of approaching biological systems such
as phylogenetic analysis and biostratigraphy. Stream 3, is made
up of the bi-weekly field trips. These will examine different
ecosystems and records of ecosystems. The trips into modern
ecosystems will focus on the big interrelated components of the
system and how they are measured and monitored. Again, the
intent of the entire course is to view the biological component of
the Earth as part of the Earth system.